allopurinol and anacardic-acid

In this study the content of anacardic acids, cardanols and cardols in cashew apple, nut (raw and roasted) and cashew nut shell liquid (CNSL) were analysed. The higher amounts (353.6 g/kg) of the major alkyl phenols, anacardic acids were detected in CNSL followed by cashew fibre 6.1 g/kg) while the lowest (0.65 g/kg) amounts were detected in roasted cashew nut. Cashew apple and fibre contained anacardic acids exclusively, whereas CNSL also contained an abundance of cardanols and cardols. Cashew nut (raw and roasted) also contained low amounts of hydroxy alkyl phenols. Cashew nut shell liquid was used for a basic fractionation of the alkyl phenol classes and the individual anacardic acids, major cardanols and cardols were purified to homogeneity from these fractions by semi-preparative HPLC and definitively identified by nano-ESI-MS-MS, GC-MS and NMR analyses. The hexane extracts (10 mg/ml) of all cashew products tested plus CNSL, displayed significant antioxidant capacity. Cashew nut shell liquid was the more efficient (inhibition=100%) followed by the hexane extract of cashew fibre (94%) and apple (53%). The antioxidant capacity correlated significantly (P<0.05) with the concentration of alkyl phenols in the extracts. A mixture of anacardic acids (10.0 mg/ml) showed the higher antioxidant capacity (IC50=0.60 mM) compared to cardols and cardanols (IC50>4.0 mM). The data shows that of these substances, anacardic-1 was by far the more potent antioxidant (IC50=0.27 mM) compared to cardol-1 (IC50=1.71 mM) and cardanol-1 (IC50>4.0 mM). The antioxidant capacity of anacardic acid-1 is more related to inhibition of superoxide generation (IC50=0.04 mM) and xanthine oxidase (IC50=0.30 mM) than to scavenging of hydroxyl radicals. At present a substantial amount of cashew fibre is mostly used in formulations of animal or poultry feeds. The data presented in this study, indicates that this waste product along with CNSL, both of which contain high contents of anacardic acids, could be better utilized in functional food formulations and may represent a cheap source of cancer chemopreventive agents.

Topics: Anacardic Acids; Anacardium; Antioxidants; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; Deoxyguanosine; Enzyme Inhibitors; Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; Indicators and Reagents; Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; Phenols; Resorcinols; Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization; Superoxides; Xanthine Oxidase

Anacardic acid, 6[8(Z), 11(Z), 14-pentadecatrienyl]salicylic acid, inhibits generation of superoxide radicals by xanthine oxidase. This inhibition does not follow a hyperbolic inhibition, depends on anacardic acid concentrations, but follows a sigmoidal inhibition. The inhibition was analyzed by using a Hill equation, and slope factor and EC(50) were 4.3+/-0.5 and 53.6+/-5.1 microM, respectively. In addition, anacardic acid inhibited uric acid formation by xanthine oxidase cooperatively. Slope factor and EC(50) were 1.7+/-0.5 and 162+/-10 microM, respectively. The results indicate that anacardic acid binds to allosteric sites near the xanthine-binding domain in xanthine oxidase. Salicylic acid moiety and alkenyl side chain in anacardic acid are associated with the cooperative inhibition and hydrophobic binding, respectively.

Topics: Anacardic Acids; Binding Sites; Enzyme Inhibitors; Flavin-Adenine Dinucleotide; Kinetics; Salicylates; Uric Acid; Xanthine; Xanthine Oxidase